Master Unchained (Stealth Guardians Book 2) (10 page)

“Hmm.” Hamish nodded. It had been a shame that Leila had had to give up her life’s work—finding a cure for Alzheimer’s—because it would have inadvertently aided the demons. “But I thought she’s decking out a medical center right here at the compound in case any of us gets injured.”

“Yeah, and it’s fully equipped with the latest gear, but when did one of us last get injured and need a doctor?”

Hamish shrugged. “Guess we’re too good at what we do.”

Both Pearce and Aiden laughed.

“That’s exactly why we need a medical emergency room,” Leila’s voice suddenly came from the door.

All three turned their heads and looked at her.

“Because you guys all think you’re invincible,” she continued, shaking her head. “That’s when mistakes happen. One of these days, you’ll be glad you’ve got a doctor in the house.”

“You tell them, baby,” Aiden said and pulled her into his arms.

“I was talking about you, too. You’re not any different from your friends.”

“Aren’t I?” He bent closer and whispered something into her ear.

Leila blushed, and Hamish rolled his eyes.

“May I remind you that you do have private quarters?” Hamish said and motioned toward the door. “I suggest you use them.”

“Later,” Aiden said. “How about lunch first?”

“That’s why I came to find you guys,” Leila said. “You should eat something before it gets cold.”

“I’m starving,” Pearce admitted and marched toward the door.

Leila and Aiden were on his heels. They turned at the door.

“You coming, Hamish?” Aiden asked over his shoulder.

“Leave something for me. I want to look at some of the footage first.” Then he remembered something else. “And Aiden.”

“Yeah?”

“Has Manus reported yet what he and Enya found at the center last night? I didn’t have a chance to speak to Enya this morning.”

“I believe he went back there today to listen in on the team the deputy director of the center asked to look into the incident.”

“Thanks, I’ll call him later then.”

A moment later, all three were gone. He heard the sound of their footsteps grow fainter. Alone in the large, cool room, Hamish took Pearce’s seat and scrolled through the video files Pearce had assembled in a folder.

Some of the clips were better than others, but not a single one truly showed the entire event unfolding, which perhaps was a good thing: at least nobody had a continuous video of him practically flying across the stage at a speed not even an Olympic sprinter could compete with.

The clips showed Tessa standing at the lectern, with Ms. VanSant, Poppy, Gunn, and Mantle standing farther back and to the side. Then Hamish entered the shot, pushing Tessa out of the way of the falling duct. The camera shook, tilting to one side. The duct had smashed the lectern to pieces and behind it, near the wall stood directors VanSant and Mantle with their mouths gaping open, frozen in shock. Poppy was holding on to VanSant’s arm, her eyes squeezed shut. Gunn wasn’t at the same spot as before. He’d moved during the rescue. But where to? The camera didn’t have him in its viewer. Considering what he knew about Gunn, he’d probably fallen backward on his ass at the moment of impact. Cowardly weasel! And this was the man whose political commercials ran with the slogan
Get your Gunn into City Hall!

Hamish rubbed his eyes. He wouldn’t find the answer he was looking for here. Maybe Manus had come up with something more helpful. And once he’d spoken to Manus, he needed to go see Tessa and clear the air. She’d barely said a word to him this morning, and it was pretty evident that she was pissed at him. However, for the sake of her safety, he couldn’t have bad blood between them, because to protect her, he needed her to trust him—and not avoid him.

14

Tessa had already heard Poppy outside her door, exchanging a few words with Collette, before her campaign manager gave a brief knock on the door and entered the office.

“Hey, Poppy.”

Poppy closed the door behind her and walked to the desk. “How’re you feeling this morning? You left so fast, I couldn’t even make sure you were okay.”

“I’m alright.”

Poppy sighed. “I was right to get you a bodyguard.”

“I’m really not in the mood for an
I-told-you-so-speech
.”

“And you’re not getting one. I’m just happy that you’re alive.”

“Thanks, Poppy.”

“So what did I hear from Collette just now? You and Hamish?”

Tessa swallowed. How could anybody know what had happened between her and Hamish last night? It was impossible. They’d been alone. And there was no way Hamish would have said anything to anybody either. Well, at least she thought he wouldn’t. Or was he the kind of guy who would brag that he could have gotten her into bed last night?

“Oh my God, you’re blushing!” Poppy exclaimed. “Guess something must have happened when he took you home last night, huh? Collette told me he’s your boyfriend. You’re a fast worker! I’m in awe!”

Tessa sighed, somewhat relieved. Now she knew what Poppy was talking about. She remembered now that Poppy had left before Hamish had explained that he would pose as her boyfriend. “It’s nothing like that. Hamish is only my pretend-boyfriend so that people don’t get wind of the fact that I have a bodyguard.”

“Did he suggest that or did you?”

“He did.”

Poppy grinned. “I wonder why. Maybe he’s attracted to you and figured he’d kill two birds with one stone.”

“Poppy!” Tessa ground out. “Hamish is not attracted to me, and I’m not attracted to him. Period. This is a purely professional arrangement.”

Poppy made a dismissive gesture. “So what did it feel like when that hunk was all over you?”

“What?” A jolt of panic shot through her.

“Well, when he practically buried you underneath him to save you from that falling duct.” She fanned herself. “Frankly I wouldn’t mind being in danger if it meant a hottie like that would protect me with his sexy body. You can’t be so blind not to see that, girl! I know your type. Back in college you would have been all over a guy like him.”

Tessa sighed, frustration rising, but she knew the only way to stop Poppy was to tell her what she wanted to hear. “Fine. So Hamish is a hot hunk with a sexy body. Happy now?”

“Is this a bad time?” an all too familiar male voice coming from the door said.

Tessa’s gaze shot past Poppy. Why had she not heard the door opening? Embarrassment swept through her, and she felt her cheeks heat as she watched Hamish approach. His lips were curved up in a charming smile. Damn it, had he heard her last words? Words she’d said only mockingly to get Poppy off her back. She wanted to sink into a hole and hide.

Poppy suppressed a chuckle. “Oh, hey Hamish, I was just leaving.” She glanced back at Tessa.

Tessa hissed underneath her breath. “Don’t you leave now, you traitor.”

But Poppy was already heading for the door. “See you later.”

The door fell shut. Nervously Tessa shifted papers from one side of her desk to the other. “You’re too early,” she said quickly, avoiding looking at Hamish. “I’m not ready to leave yet.”

“I figured that, but I wanted to talk to you about something important. And it can’t wait.”

She looked up and noticed him staring at the window seat.

“In private, without anybody inadvertently listening in.”

In the silence that followed, Tessa heard the floorboards creak, but Hamish wasn’t moving. He stood in front of her desk as if waiting for something.

Finally she couldn’t take the suspense any longer and said, “If this is about last night…”

~ ~ ~

Hamish waited until Enya had left the room. Despite the fact that she’d been invisible to Tessa, he’d been able to see her since their race had different degrees of cloaking.

“It is,” he started. He’d overheard Tessa telling Poppy that she found him sexy. That changed the situation. He tossed his prepared speech out the window and took a slightly different approach.

“I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings between us. It could jeopardize your safety. And your safety comes before everything else.”

“I think we both knew that this… uh… arrangement could cause problems.”

“That’s my fault,” he admitted.

When she parted her lips to respond, he stopped her by lifting his hand. “No, please let me explain. I’ve been doing this for a long time: protecting people. And only once have I ever gotten involved with one of my cha—uh, clients. It cost her life.” And nearly his, too.

Tessa’s eyes widened in shock.

“I won’t make the same mistake again, no matter how much I’m attracted to you. I can’t risk it. Do you understand?”

She nodded silently.

“I heard what you said to Poppy just now. I’m guessing you’re not entirely indifferent to me, or you probably wouldn’t have kissed me back when I took advantage of your vulnerability last night.”

“You didn’t take advantage of me,” she said to his surprise. “I wanted you to kiss me.”

Her admission made what he had to say even harder. “And I enjoyed kissing you more than I should. But I can’t allow myself to do it again.” No matter how much he craved a repeat of it. “My job… it’s complicated. We have rules and…”

“You don’t have to say anything else. Nothing really happened. We’re both adults who got lost in the moment.”

As much as that might be true for Tessa, it wasn’t the case for him, but he didn’t contradict her. However, he wanted her to know that this didn’t change how serious he was about her safety.

“You have my promise that I’ll protect you with my life if I have to. I want you to trust me. You should never have to doubt my commitment to this assignment. And whatever you need me to do to make you feel safe and comfortable, you just have to ask.”

Tessa rose slowly, nodding in contemplation. She walked around the desk and approached the window. Glancing outside, she finally spoke.

“It’s strange to hear you say that. To hear anybody say that.”

He took a few steps toward her. “Why? Don’t you believe me?”

“It’s not that. I do believe you. And even that is strange. I mean, believing somebody you don’t really know. Trusting a stranger.”

“But you do.”

She nodded, still staring out of the window. Maybe it was easier for her to talk openly without looking at him. “After last night I have no doubt anymore.” She sighed. “You reacted so quickly. Without hesitation. I saw some of the video clips people took of the incident.”

He noticed her shiver and wanted to put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her, but he didn’t. It was too risky, because even jerking off in the shower earlier hadn’t dampened his desire for her. On the contrary, it had only shown him what it could be like between them. How good they would be together.

“I reviewed the clips, too,” he said instead. “But there was no footage of the ceiling, so I couldn’t see how the duct fell.”

“Gabriella called me earlier. She said the police were at the scene last night.” She looked over her shoulder. “Did your colleague speak to them?”

“Yes, Enya made contact with them,” he lied. “But there are no leads yet.” Which was the truth.

He’d spoken to Manus earlier. His fellow guardian had taken photographs and swiped the metal for any chemical residue that would suggest an explosive, but the results of the tests weren’t back yet.

A knock at the door made him turn.

Tessa glanced past him. “Come in.”

The door opened and none other than Robert Gunn entered. When Gunn spotted him, he froze for a moment.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Tessa walked past Hamish and addressed Gunn, “No, you’re not. What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing after last night.” He exhaled. “That was quite horrific.”

“It was, but I’m fine.”

“Good, good.” Gunn smiled and glanced past her, looking straight at Hamish. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”

He extended his hand and Hamish had no choice but to shake it.

“Hamish MacGregor.”

“Robert Gunn.”

“I know who you are.”

Gunn shifted, a gesture Hamish could only interpret as nervousness. “Well, I don’t want to disturb you any longer.” He was already back at the door, when he turned. “Oh, Tessa, before I forget, I was looking for a bunch of files that Yardley was working on before his death.”

Hamish recognized the name: John Yardley, the previous mayor, who’d been killed in a still-unsolved hit-and-run two months earlier.

“Yes?” Tessa replied, her eyebrows snapping together.

“I was told you might have taken them to continue where he left off.”

“I only took anything related to the Center for Drug Rehabilitation.”

“Hmm. Odd. Well, then.”

“You might want to try his widow. I know John’s assistant packed up his personal stuff. Maybe it accidentally got packed in with it.”

“I thought all that stuff was still in police custody.”

She shook her head. “No, they sent it to Amanda. She called me just the other day because there was a book in the box that I’d lent him, and she wanted to return it. So she’s definitely got the box. Why don’t you call her?”

“I will. Thanks!” Gunn smiled and left, shutting the door behind him.

When Tessa turned back to him, Hamish noticed the sad look on her face. “Were you close to the mayor, to Yardley?”

“He was a friend of the family. I was a child when I first met him. He was like an uncle to me. So I guess I knew him well. He was a good man. When I heard of the accident I couldn’t believe it at first. We were all devastated.” She looked straight at him. “Particularly my father. John and my dad would play golf together and afterwards, there would be a barbeque at our house.” She suddenly froze.

“What?”

“I almost forgot. My father invited us for a barbeque at home.”

“Us?”

She grimaced. “I’m afraid I had to tell him that you’re my boyfriend. And now he wants to meet you. I really don’t need this right now.”

“You think he won’t approve of me?”

“It’s not you or him I’m worried about.”